Today The Atlantic is launching The Permanent Questions, a new video podcast hosted by staff writer David Brooks about the fundamental questions of human life that every generation—and every individual—must attempt to answer. In new episodes publishing every Sunday, David will engage thinkers, writers, and artists in conversations about what makes us human, what gives life meaning, and how we can build richer relationships and a more just society.

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In the debut episode of The Permanent Questions With David Brooks, David speaks with the philosopher Meghan Sullivan about perhaps the most important question of them all: How should we live our lives? Sullivan is a co-author of The Good Life Method, based on a popular course she teaches at Notre Dame. Leading a good life, she argues, means not just maximizing our positive impact in the world, but cultivating virtue within our own souls.

My aunt, who in her mild imagination
was Ginger Rogers lacking an Astaire,
lived to the last a notch above her station,
an exiled queen propped up by Medicare.
A mirrored sideboard’s porcelain swans and swains
(no Meissen, some Limoges, all very late)
amount now to the bulk of her remains:
even en masse, the daintiest estate.
Bring bubble wrap and drive them to the thrift store.

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On the first day of self-defense class, I learn to say “no.”
We’re in a Southern California martial-arts studio not far from an In-N-Out Burger. The space smells faintly of cooked meat. I’m one of six students, all women: four nurses, one flight attendant, and me. In this introductory session, we’re supposed to get a taste of what it means to protect ourselves—and, if necessary, to fight back.

In the race to develop intelligent machines, the leading AI companies have built bots that can whip up spreadsheets at a moment’s notice, write sophisticated code, and even solve long-standing math problems. But when it comes to the more mundane tasks of life—such as ordering groceries or booking flights—these tools sometimes still struggle. Now a new bot called Instinct is outperforming the AI giants.